Chapter 96 — Return

By mid-June, the matter of Pang Kunbai's robbery had finally reached a conclusion.

Pang Yulou had at first meant to put in a good word for her nephew, but because of Du An, she and Wang Shuying were confirmed as having instigated the whole affair. Lady Wang—the wife of the Wang clan—would of course not admit that any of it had to do with Wang Shuying; the fault was all the daughter-in-law's, her own daughter had merely been deceived. She demanded that Pang Yulou be divorced. Wang Zhibiao went with his two sons, Wang Tan and Wang Shan, to kneel before Lady Wang's chambers to plead for his wife, and only then did Lady Wang relent, decreeing that Pang Yulou should keep the household rules before her. Pang Yulou dared not say a single word more; every day she served her mother-in-law with assiduous diligence, hoping only to weather the storm as quickly as possible—how would she dare so much as mention Pang Kunbai again?

Dou Huaiying was beside himself with fury.

He flung a copy of *The Admonitions for Women* at Wang Shuying and ordered her to copy it out in her room: not until she had copied a full thousand copies would she be allowed out. Then he handed the household affairs to Gao Sheng's wife, in effect stripping Wang Shuying of her authority to manage the household, and chose an auspicious day to send her back to the family's ancestral home in Zhending, to be placed under the Second Old Madam's discipline.

Lady Wang was aghast.

Wang Shuying had no son—that was the constant ache in her heart.

If Wang Shuying were sent back to Zhending, then given her age, would it not mean that she could never bear a son in all her life?

She went in person to plead with Dou Huaiying.

Dou Huaiying was unmoved, displaying a firmness he had never shown before.

At her wit's end, Lady Wang went to beg Dou Bingheng.

Dou Bingheng smiled. "This is Seventh Brother's family business. As his elder brother, I really am in no position to interfere." Yet then he hinted to Lady Wang, "It isn't only me—even when Shouyuan pleaded for Seventh Sister-in-law, saying that if the Pang family would simply pay twenty thousand taels in compensation the matter could be dropped, Seventh Uncle would not hear of it..."

Lady Wang's eyes lit up. She went home and forced the Pang family to pay Dou Yan twenty thousand taels in compensation.

How could the Pang family possibly produce such a sum?

Lady Wang sneered. "Then take your daughter back. A ruinous creature like that—our house cannot afford to keep her!"

Pang Yulou stamped with rage and sent her own trusted steward to persuade her three brothers: "While the green hills remain, there'll be no fear of firewood. Without the Wang family's great tree to shelter us, no amount of silver will keep us safe."

Pang Jinlou urged his father on: "The family's ancestral property must of course not be sold. But Second Brother's restaurant and teahouse, Third Brother's money house and pawnshop—those are worth twenty thousand taels at the least. If that's still not enough, mortgage our general store. Borrow a little more silver besides—with the general store as security, the money houses will dare to lend to us, and we'll still have the capital to rise again."

The general store was Pang Jinlou's own property.

Pang the father nodded again and again, and without so much as asking whether Pang Yinlou and Pang Xilou agreed, he straightaway found a buyer and sold it off, scraping together twenty thousand taels, which he delivered to the Western Dou household.

Pang Yinlou and Pang Xilou kicked down the gate of Pang Jinlou's house and chased him down to beat him.

Pang Jixiu's wife, Madame Chen, stood by with her arms folded, cackling as she watched the show.

Pang Jixiu was frantic with rage. He bellowed at Madame Chen, "Aren't you going to help pull Second Uncle and Third Uncle apart? If anything happens to my father, I'll divorce you this instant!"

Madame Chen was not the least bit afraid.

Pang Jixiu was out of sorts if he didn't threaten to divorce his wife at least twice a day.

She dragged Pang Jixiu back to their room by the collar.

"For what Pang Kunbai did, the Dou family letting him off without beating him to death is already mercy. And you want me to join your family's brawl? In your dreams," Madame Chen said with contempt. She called for a maid to pack their trunks. "You're coming with me to stay at my parents' house for a few days. We'll come back once this business has blown over."

Pang Jixiu flung his sleeves and stalked off.

But Madame Chen caught him by the back of his collar and hauled him from the doorway to the middle of the main hall.

"I'm talking serious business with you, and you'd better take it to heart!" Madame Chen's face went stern. Her big, bell-like eyes glinted fiercely. "You're coming with me to my parents' house this instant for a few days. My mother hasn't seen you in some time—she says she misses her son-in-law."

He couldn't beat her in a fight, and she didn't care in the least when he cursed her.

Pang Jixiu stamped his feet in frustration.

Madame Chen giggled and marched him out the door.

Pang Yinlou's wife was lying in the front courtyard, kicking up a fuss: "Pang Jinlou, you bastard, you egged Father on to sell off our shop—what are we supposed to use to treat Kunbai now? My poor Kunbai, lying there like one of the living dead..."

Pang Jixiu grew anxious. Pointing at Pang Yinlou's wife, he said to Madame Chen, "Look at that!"

"What's there to look at?" Madame Chen walked on without turning her head. "If he dies, he dies. A man like that is a waste of rice and cloth even while he lives. Just taking up space!"

Pang Jixiu was so angry he could not speak.

Madame Chen raised a hand and stuffed him into the carriage.

Her maid sprang up onto the shafts, cracked the whip, and the carriage rumbled out of the Pang compound.

Dou Yan naturally did not want Wang Shuying to come back.

Out of sight, out of mind!

She had Suxin send word to the Pang family: "Those twenty thousand taels are compensation owed to us. If you want me to put in a good word for her before Father, then bring another five thousand taels."

The Pang family wailed and groaned, yet dared not refuse. They found a usurer, borrowed five thousand taels, and sent it over.

Dou Yan wrote a letter to her father, saying that a household without a mistress would give rise to gossip, and that since Gao Sheng's wife was now managing the household, it would be better to keep Wang Shuying close at hand and simply have her move about less among the relatives in future. Besides, she herself truly did not wish to live under the same roof as Wang Shuying.

But Dou Huaiying was set on leaving Wang Shuying in the cold. He agreed to keep her in the capital, but proposed that Dou Ming return to Zhending, to be disciplined by Dou Yan.

Dou Chi consented.

Dou Huaiying sent the man straight back.

Dou Ming, at ten years of age, had a delicate beauty about her—slender and fine-boned, already hinting at the fragile grace of a willow swaying in the wind. But just now her small white face was drawn tight, and within her large almond eyes something seemed to burn like fire, so that she resembled a rose armed with thorns rather than a narcissus blooming by the water's edge.

"Don't imagine I'm pleased to have you back," Dou Yan said coolly, seated in the grand armchair of the main hall. "If you must resent someone, resent the Pang family. There's no need to vent your temper on me." She gestured toward the direction of Qixia Court. "You'll live in the western side court from now on. I'm assigning Du Ning to serve you—you may do as you please there, so long as you don't come barging into my main court or disturb Aunt Cui in the eastern side court." With that, she rose to her feet. "Come. I'll take you to pay your respects to Aunt Cui."